Measuring the Brix level of pasture before grazing can help get the most productive and profitable results from a farming operation.

Measuring Brix is a convenient way to help determine the quality of pasture, or fruit, for that matter. It is stated in degrees Brix (°Bx), a measure of the sugars or carbohydrate level in plant sap or juices (technically the level of the dissolved sugar-to-water mass ratio of a liquid).

Carbohydrates provide the energy that enables stock to make the best use of protein in their feed. High-protein feed with low sugars/carbohydrates leads to loss of condition and health problems.

Some farming practices produce low-Brix plants, while some produce high-Brix pasture or produce – more palatable, with higher nutritional value.

Measuring Brix is quick, simple and inexpensive using a refractometer, which measures the refraction (bending) in rays of light as they pass through plant sap or juice.

A drop of juice placed on the prism is examined through the eyeglass to be read against a scale. The Brix is indicated where the light and dark fields intersect. The level of refraction shows the amount of carbohydrates (sugars) as well as the amount of the dissolved minerals in the plant sap or juice.

High-Brix pastures or feed crops indicate higher nutritional value and consequently healthier and more productive animals. Carbohydrates are the fuel the body uses for basic metabolic function. This has tremendous implications on digestion and animal or human health as the case may be.

One basic health rule is that all disease is the result of a mineral deficiency. This points to the importance of eating foods with high mineral density. One of the most important nutrients that increases with high Brix readings is calcium. Calcium levels in produce rise and fall proportionately with the Brix.

In addition to increased calcium levels, high-Brix foods also supply more trace minerals such as copper, cobalt, zinc, iron, and manganese. When animals are deficient in trace minerals the health problems that arise can be costly in lost production and the remedies that must be bought and administered.

Insects and disease are the symptoms of a failing crop, not the cause of it, goes the dictum. It’s not the overpowering invader we must fear but the weakened condition of the victim.

High-Brix plants are more resistant to insect pests and diseases. Plants in poor health emit an electro-magnetic frequency that insects tune in to. This in effect calls them in for a feast. Plants in good health emit a different frequency that insects do not tune in to.

Many farmers who have applied Nitrosol and PhloLime to half a paddock ‘to see what happens’ may find stock will graze the treated half like ‘lawnmowers’ before moving to the other half which they then pick at with little enthusiasm.

When the carbohydrates (sugars) are boosted, so is the palatability. At the same time, stock need a lesser quantity of feed to satisfy their hunger. This is why you can often see a milking herd all sitting down chewing the cud shortly after returning from milking.

Tel. 09 571 7171

• Rod Klarwill is a principal of Rural Research Ltd, supplier of Nitrosol and PhloLime.